Chitosan films are NOT antimicrobial |
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Authors: | Foster L John R Butt Julian |
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Institution: | (1) Bio/Polymer Research Group, School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia |
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Abstract: | Chitosan is a promising biomaterial for biomedical applications and is currently applied as wound dressings. While chitosan
solutions demonstrate strong bactericidal activity against a range of medically important bacteria, the study here reports
a loss of this beneficial property in thin films cast from the same solutions. Chitosan films (20 μm) showed no inhibitory
effects against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus or S. epidermidis species. In contrast, solutions used to prepare the films showed almost complete inhibition (~98 ± 2%) when tested on bacterial
lawns and in liquid cultures. Increased acidity of the chitosan solutions (pH 5) was shown to promote the bactericidal effects
of this biopolymer. The concept that devices fabricated from chitosan have an inherent antimicrobial activity is suggested
as an important misconception. |
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Keywords: | |
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